1990 Honda Concerto 1.6 dual carb from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

An expensive car to fix and service. Wouldn't recommend to anyone but my worst enemy

Faults:

When I acquired the Concerto at nearly 200,000kms, it already had the cambelt done, which was a bonus.

The exterior had lots of scratches and stone chips, as with many NZ cars, otherwise the paint was pretty good.

Had the car for nearly 2 years with great reliability, until one day I checked the oil; I'd had the vehicle serviced just 2 months before. I checked my park for oil leaks, but none was there, so topped up the oil and checked the next day, the oil was low again. I left this for a week, topping it up until I could get my mechanic. The Monday I was on my way to him, the car started to labour; I pulled over and stopped to check oil, spark plugs etc, but all was fine. Had to get it towed to my mechanic, who revealed that there was a hole on the side of the block that was letting water out, but also letting water into spark plug hole one, which eventually filled with water. The only sensible option is to get a new motor, which will cost around $1200 when the car is only worth around $900, so the car is going to be scrapped now.

General Comments:

The Concerto isn't a race car, but has plenty of power for town needs.

The interior is typical 80s boring, and the seats wore easy.

The car faded very easily over the 2 years of ownership, even though I polished and washed it regularly.

The Concerto is definitely not a handler, but was well bolted together.

General Comments:

The car is very comfortable, and generally speaking, I feel very safe in it. I bought it because it is Japanese and European cars are poorly finished. The car had several problems when I got it, however, and I had to return to the car dealer nine times in 10 months to get most of the problems corrected. I discovered just after the 1-year warranty ran out that someone, probably the dealer, had patched the exhaust system with pieces of sheet metal. Changing the exhaust system quieted the car tremendously, but it is still a very loud car because of two cherry-bomb mufflers under the cab. The mufflers are a feeble attempt by the manufacturer to make the car sound powerful. My brother-in-law calls it a "rice burner." It is factory rated at 130 horses and 210 kph. Those mufflers make so much noise, though, that you think the car's going to explode when you get over 120. I've had it up to 180, but it wasn't a pleasant experience. The car's terrible on ice. The front end pops up when you accelerate, and on ice, you end up sliding around a bit. It took awhile for me to get used to driving the car. All that power makes it very squirrelly, and being a heavy car, it handles a bit like a boat, heaving from side to side. My wife refuses to drive it because it is so powerful.